WWE TV 01/27 - 02/02 R.I.P. Kobe

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It should be a big talking point about how much they screwed up Strowman and missed the boat on turning him into a major star. Unfortunately, they've done that consistently for the last ten years while making approx 3-5 actual stars in the same period (generous interpretation of the word star here).

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The problem with Strowman was did he gets screwed by the WWE or did he actually screw himself. I doubt that Lesnar would have had the same respect that he did for guys like Bryan, Styles, or Rollins but Braun giving him two shoot knees to the face pretty much guarantee it wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately if Brock tells people you are shit then it isn't even worth being in the ring with him.

Something Matt Riddle better learn quickly

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The problem with Strowman was did he gets screwed by the WWE or did he actually screw himself. I doubt that Lesnar would have had the same respect that he did for guys like Bryan, Styles, or Rollins but Braun giving him two shoot knees to the face pretty much guarantee it wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately if Brock tells people you are shit then it isn't even worth being in the ring with him.

Something Matt Riddle better learn quickly

If Vince McMahon is going to throw away money on a guy the crowd is dying to cheer for because he gave Brock a stiff knee almost two years before, then more fool him. But it's not like Vince hasn't been leaving money on the table with hot acts forever now anyway.

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To be fair, it was pretty sloppy of Braun to be giving guys shoot knees to the face. I get the feeling if it was anyone other than Brock on the receiving end he would have got the Brie Bella treatment over it from the online fans.

Braun also absolutely got kneecapped by never getting the big win when he was really hot (either as a heel or face), since they were always building up someone else at the time. The fact that winning the IC belt was his first singles title illustrates how much he was squandered.

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Hopefully Braun is in the Big Show position where, one day, with the right booking, he can be rehabbed and turned into a top monster again. If Show can come back from the impression business, Braun can recover. It's probably helpful that nobody even remembers him teaming up with a 10 year old, to be fair,

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I think there will be a wrestling person and a business person. Triple H will probably be the wrestling person and Shane the corporate guy to appease Wall Street. Stephanie will be doing both, so I think she will be the most powerful person in wrestling whenever Vince passes on.

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I can't imagine Shane appeasing Wall Street any more than HHH would. What is his actual business pedigree? Presumably nothing exceptionally successful or he wouldn't be back with WWE and jumping off of shit.

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Didn't the VOD company Shane tried to launch in China lose money hand over fist? That's the only non-WWE business venture he had any real involvement in that I know of.

What makes the company shakeup even more puzzling is that the corporate side of WWE is doing great. Look at all the TV and sponsorship deals they've made. It's the wrestling side that's struggling, and that's all Vince.

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I think there will be a wrestling person and a business person. Triple H will probably be the wrestling person and Shane the corporate guy to appease Wall Street. Stephanie will be doing both, so I think she will be the most powerful person in wrestling whenever Vince passes on.

Stephanie hasn't been on the creative side since around 2012/2013. I mean she could always go back but she's been strictly corporate side for about 7 years or so

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Braun also absolutely got kneecapped by never getting the big win when he was really hot (either as a heel or face), since they were always building up someone else at the time. The fact that winning the IC belt was his first singles title illustrates how much he was squandered.

The only time he managed to get huge wins was against Roman in their great damn feud, IIRC. From that moment on, his moments were like winning the biggest Rumble or winning a tag team battle royal by himself.

One may say that he should've won at that Elimination Chamber, but the backlash if he were to gp up against Brock that year and lose would be even bigger than what we got. Which on the other hand begs the question of why didn't they crown Roman there...

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I doubt Shane will get an executive position. He very well might end up doing a backstage type gig laying out matches like he did for the Rumble but I don't see someone as legendarily insecure as Hunter allowing Shane to get any real power back.

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You guys make great points about Shane not having the resume to appease Wall Street and Steph not doing creative and being a corporate figurehead. It makes it even more surprising (alarming?) that they fired Barrios and Wilson - both of whom would have had no issues appeasing Wall Street - so suddenly, with seemingly no succession plan.

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I think the idea that Wall St won't "respect" Stephanie McMahon if/when she becomes president/ceo is totally overblown. Look at all the out of nowhere tech people who earn "respect" because they have a trendy product and no prior experience (and a lot of them flame out and people lose their asses). Steph would have some Wilson/Barrios corporate types under her and years of experience/name value she can tout, no pun intended.

The biggest issue is the core business. TV money is saving their asses right now because all the core business metrics are way down, the audience continues to wilt away, and the one's that remain aren't getting any younger. And the product itself is bad. Until all that is fixed the rest of it doesn't really matter. The stock goes up and the stock goes down, and it had been overvalued for a while.